Friday, February 12, 2010

That girl's a Superfreak.

December 1983, Mid-South Coliseum, Rick James Street Songs tour, Memphis, TN. Ed Slaughter always had money. He always had tickets. And he always asked me out. Natch, I was in the "Just friends, RIGHT?" mode with the kid, but what a gent. Funny, smart and a 40-year-old in a 14-year-old's body. He was the pill fiend teenager before there was such a thing and I don't even really know if he actually used pills, but I thought he did, even then, when I had probably--by the time this picture was taken--had smoked marijuana about 10 times, MAYBE.

Anyway, this was a fabulous evening. Rick and the Stone City Band tore it up and the Mary Jane Girls were real and hot where Vanity 6 were weird and hot (not the same show, just comparing/contrasting). Rick pulled a screeching woman out of the audience that night and laid her down on a brass bed he had on stage, poured champagne on her and licked it off. I don't think I even did drugs that night but well, you didn't have to be high to feel high watching that man!

I had my heart broken by My First True Love, Steven Pittman, about a month before this night and when I look at this photo now, I am so relieved to see a true smile on my face. Ed, you always showed me a supremely good time. And I'll always love you for it. I hope you are alive and happy somewhere out there and I wish I'd run into you so we could go get drunk together again and laugh it up.

Yes they did! It was out at that time: "In My House" and it was hot. That show blew my already huge expectations out of the water! I'm so glad to still have that photo too--we were dressed in our best young partier finery as always. Ed was a definite good time. I work over there as a therapist (West Memphis/Marion, AR) now and I ask about him but no one seems to know who he is. That town was absolute hell for kids like us. I got out but he stayed...at least longer than me!